Answered4 years ago

What are the administrative requirements for obtaining a volunteer visa in Thailand for an expat organization?

volunteer visa education visa visa regulations NGO support Thailand immigration work permits

Jo ********

asked Sep 22, 2022

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Does anyone know how difficult the administrative requirements are for an organisation supporting someone to get a volunteer visa? My partner and I are planning to come to Thailand next year and were thinking of getting education visas. I'm a psychologist in Australia and thought that using my professional skills as a volunteer with an NGO might actually be of more benefit, but am not sure if it would be more hassle than it is worth for the organisation. I haven't approached anyone yet, just thought I would try to check out if it would be worth considering.

Answer summary

The discussion revolves around the complexities of obtaining a volunteer visa in Thailand, especially as an expat with professional skills. One comment advises that an education visa (ED visa) might be a safer and more straightforward option due to recent crackdowns on volunteer visas. It highlights that to hire volunteers, organizations must be registered with the Department of Labor and fulfill strict legal requirements similar to those for ED visas, including obtaining work permits and proving compliance every 90 days with documentation from the sponsoring organization. Concerns are raised about the scrutiny associated with volunteer visas and the implications for future visa applications.

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Kool *******

For an organization to be able to hire volunteers they need to be registered with the department of Labour, and one other government agency, but I can't remember the other one. The legal requirements are basically the same as an ED visa. Every 90 days your visa has to be extended with the documents from the company verifying that you are in fact working. They also need to sponsor you for a work permit, as you can not do any kind of work without one, not even unpaid work. The people that are having problems are the ones that did not have the 90 day extensions in their passport. They only had the shady one year visa. If you were fluent in Thai you would be in high demand. As it is check with the private hospitals for possibilities.

4 years ago

Shayne **********

@Kool ******

of which you still need to work permit for.

4 years ago

Kool *******

@Steve *******

most people that use the term "work visa" are actually referring to a type B visa you get in most cases if you have a paying job.

4 years ago

Steve ********

@Jo *******

A work permit is completely seperate to any visa. Work permits are issued by Ministry of Labour, visas by Royal Thai Police, so one complements the other. You will hear people refer to a "work visa" but there's no such thing, as there are several different visas which will support a Work Permit

4 years ago

Jo ********

Needing a work permit seems to defeat the purpose of having a separate volunteering visa.

Thanks for the suggestion with the private hospitals.

4 years ago

Brandon ************

I'd highly recommend education visa over volunteer. There's a huge crackdown going on right now with volunteer visas because they were used for years for people to stay when they shouldn't have been able to.

Getting one would require a lot more scrutiny than normal most likely, and could also limit your future options just because you ever had one on your record, legit or not.

4 years ago